True Beauty Is Protected, Not Coated Or Suffocated
A deeply personal conversation with Mario Verrilli on his journey from styling on high-fashion editorial sets to formulating premium, scalp-conscious hair longevity science.
MARIO VERRILLI
Meet the Founder
Hair has always been personal for me. I grew up with difficult hair; fine in the front, thick in the back, stubborn cowlicks and more than a few disappointing haircuts. Then one day, I discovered my mother's hairspray. For the first time, I saw what hair could do. That early curiosity became an obsession with transformation. Years later, while studying business at university, I began quietly experiencing hair loss myself with no strong history of baldness in my family. I made a decision: not to casually enter the hair industry, but to fully immerse myself in mastering it at the highest level. That pursuit took me through advanced education, editorial fashion, magazine covers, and more than three decades behind the chair.
“I became obsessed with creating beautiful hair that still respects the future of the hair.”
But losing my own hair made me ask a bigger question: what if we thought about the future of our hair, not just how it looks today? I wasn't looking for a miracle cure. I became interested in prevention, and protecting the hair we still have. That idea became Saijojo, and the philosophy behind Hair Longevity.
Watch Mario's Story
01
Editorial Background
High-fashion sets, global runway campaigns. But it started earlier. With his mother's hairspray, and a kid who discovered what hair could really do.
02
30 Years Hands-On
Three decades behind the chair. Not advertising claims; raw structural integrity, learned hands-on, texture by texture.
03
Personal Sensitivities
Hair loss found him young, with no family history to explain it. That question became a mission: master hair at the highest level.
04
Follicle Longevity
No miracle cures. Just prevention. Beautiful hair today should never cost you beautiful hair tomorrow.
THE TURNING POINT
From the Chair to the Formula
After 30 years perfecting how hair looks, Mario turned his attention to what most brands ignore; what happens to hair and scalp over time. Saijojo began as a search for answers: which ingredients build up, which ones breathe, and which ones actually protect. The result is a formulation philosophy built on one rule; nothing goes into a Saijojo product that trades today's shine for tomorrow's damage.
PERSONAL NOTE
"We must stop treating our hair like synthetic plastic."
When I was working in major studios, there were constant requests to spray plastic laminates onto the models to get a glass-like shine. But I watched their hair look more lifeless by the season. Conventional brands still tell you that you need heavy formulas to protect your hair.
The truth is, hair is a living, breathing extension of your scalp. When you coat the scalp and hair in heavy water-insoluble silicone films, you drown the follicles. That is why fine hair gets flat and fine fibers break down over time.
Saijojo’s formulation standards are highly rigorous. We replace synthetic dimethicone with biodegradable, nutrient-dense meadowfoam and camellia botanical lipids. We swap out plastic styling holds for soluble biopolymers that rinse out completely.
I built Saijojo for people who care about their hair’s long-term future. We hope you will experience the difference of truly breathing hair.
